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Monday, May 19, 2014

I have always been curious about Tunisian crochet ever since I found an afghan hook in with my grandmother's belongings after she passed. I had no idea what it was for at first, then I looked it up on the internet and was intrigued, but never pursued the matter. Years later, enter Craftsy. They have a course on Tunisian crochet* and I just had to take it to see what it was like. Well, it turns out that I don't really like it. It's a shame because I was really psyched about it and I even bought my very own set of hooks, but I just don't think it was meant to be. I got frustrated with it very easily and don't really love the way the finished stitches look - they are cool, but I think I'd just rather have something knitted.

I got about eight rows into this washcloth and then finally frogged it yesterday after a few months of struggling with it:

I may go back and try it again later, but, for now, I'm just saying that Tunisian crochet is not for me. However, the instructor is really good - she was friendly and made the directions easy to follow. There is also a pretty cool lesson on how to choose colors that is worth watching.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

It was love at first sight with me and Sam the Koala. I bought the pattern the morning it was released and couldn't wait to get started creating one of my very own. I had my first opportunity to make one when I signed up for the freshstitches Secret Springtime Spectacular Swap and I knew I just had to make one of these cuties in purple, my swapmate's favorite color.

My swapmate is a pharmacist, so this koala bear even has his own little labcoat!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

This is one of my most exciting FOs to post because it is the first knitting pattern that I have designed myself! Yay! Go me!! I was inspired to design my own socks after taking Donna Druchunas's Craftsy class, Knit Original Toe-Up Socks.* I took notes while I knit these and I fully intend to write up a little pattern for you to follow if you would like to make your own pair!

I'm generally not a fan of toe-up socks because I like a gusset heel, so I was happy that the Craftsy course included instructions on how to create a gusset heel with toe-ups. The math was slightly complicated, but I managed to figure it all out - just had to concentrate.